Olympic Silence

Olympic Silence

"This is a crucial moment where the Olympic committee needs to stand up and prevent its descent into folly. This is not an internal Israeli matter, nor about political posturing or revenge. It is about doing justice to the memory of 11 men who came in peace and went home in coffins. The victims were killed not on the streets of Tel Aviv, nor accidental tourists at Munich. Rather they were members of the Olympic family, murdered inside the Olympic village as participants in the Games. It was an onslaught against the entire Olympic ideal.

"I do not cast the charge of "anti-Semitism" lightly. If the slain athletes had been American, British, or Palestinian for that matter, does anyone doubt that the Olympic Committee would hold a fitting memorial tribute? Why did the opening ceremonies include mentions of the Bosnian War in 1996, and the 2002 Games opened with a minute of silence for victims of 9/11?  Why, when it comes to Israel, does all the talk about "brotherhood" and "unity" seem to fall by the wayside?"

Vouchers for creationism in Louisiana? | NCSE

Vouchers for creationism in Louisiana? | NCSE

Not only this, but Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is cutting state funds for library technology in rural parishes.  Somebody is stuck on stupid in that state!  If he is Romney's veep pick, that will give me serious, serious pause about voting the GOP ticket in November.

Everything I Own - Bread.wmv

A small tribute to the victims of the Aurora theater massacre.  Blinking back tears, just reposting this clip.

Aurora theater victims tribute Sunday morning on CNN

So sad watching the victims' stories on CNN. We are promised eternity, but we are not promised tomorrow...

Ennui

Rick Moran is unsatisfied with the variety and quality of commentary emerging in the aftermath of the Aurora Batman movie theatre shooting. The diagnosis is simple: He's become jaded and desensitized. Our poor powers of expression are overtaxed by events like this. Mute shock dampens the wit. People try to make sense of things, and they fly to what is familiar and what seems true, rather than devising rhetorical novelties. Doesn't make for bracing reading, but maybe punditry isn't the first thing one should look for in times like this, in the first place.

It is not our friends' help that helps us, so much as the confident knowledge that they will help.
-- Epicurus

Aurora Colorado Shooting

Can't really say anything other than how horrible it is. I've been abroad else-web today, sharing sympathy, and snapping back at proggs who tried to pin this on the Tea Party or the NRA. But my heart just goes out to the families who have suffered so much today, and will continue to do so.

You didn't build that!

A fun new Tumblr, thusly themed.

A blogroll at last!

I finally took the time and effort to figure out how to turn on Blogger's blogroll, and added the first couple of dozen blogs I could think of offhand. I'll be adding more later, as I'm sure I'm overlooking some favorites. Thanks to Eric at Viking Pundit for the pointers.

Erasure

Some old offerings of mine elseweb seem to have undergone obliteration by the website proprietor. Well, sic transit gloria mundi... I spent many enjoyable hours there over the course of the Aughties, but I was becoming a bad fit by the time I stopped participating. Just wasn't as P.O.ed as much as many of the others, I guess. Plus I had recently been banned at Little Green Footballs, and didn't feel like sticking around for that scenario to unfold again. Never did make any comment about it, prior to this, just faded away. I'm still pecking away at this blog, but I've been putting my heart into commenting here and there around the web, here and here and here for example. I find that I prefer being the fellow who's too conservative, rather than the one who's not conservative enough, and so I gravitate towards online communities where discussion and disagreement over a broad spectrum of opinion are tolerated. I not infrequently get censored at the proggish sites, but hey! Only n00bs whine about the moderators. And I'm not about to start now.

Creationism amok

Creationism is starting to break out.
Creationists to open free school school in Britain.

British National Trust includes creationist content in welcome center at Giants Causeway.

Erskine College has to defy Presbyterian convention, exclude creationism from curriculum.

Several state Republican platforms endorse creationism.

South Korean creationists force removal of evolution from curriculum.

I haven't seen anything lately, but creationism is rampant in the Islamic world too, especially in Turkey.

What's going on in California?